WWW.RateMyCop.com is the brainchild of a Culver City, California couple and it is brilliant. It is a website where you can go to rate cops all over the country and also to find out what rating others have given them…by name and badge number.

According to a New York Times article, the couple got the idea from Web sites that rate other professions such as teachers, lawyers and doctors. So, why not police?

Surprise…

Well, of course, says the Times, there are some in the law enforcement community who want the whole thing shut down. The chief of the Fresno Police Department is quoted as saying, “Officers who are rated face unfair maligning without any opportunity to defend themselves.” You mean, sort of like when police will sometimes accuse innocent people of crimes they did not commit? That sort of “maligning?”

If that argument doesn’t hold water ( the cop involved can always comment on the web site itself) then the old “it might put the officer and family in grave danger” nonsense is rolled out.

The info on the site is already out there on the public record…the web site simply allows people to tell others about the good and bad treatment they receive from law enforcement officials. What is wrong with that?

Legal experts say it is not likely courts will shut the site down because of issues involving freedom of speech and freedom of the press.

So, go to the site and have a field day. www.ratemycop.com